THE husband of a female nursery worker charged with sexually assaulting children last night said he was "shocked" by the allegations – and spoke of the need to protect their own two children from the trauma of the case.
Andrew George spoke out after his wife, Vanessa George, 39 – who worked at the Little Ted's nursery in Plymouth – was jeered and spat at when she appeared in court yesterday.
George, of Plymouth, faces two counts of sexually assaulting a girl und
er 13 by penetration, one count of sexually assaulting a boy under 13 by touching and one count of sexually assaulting a girl under 13.
She also faces three separate counts of making, possessing and distributing indecent images of children. Detectives believe some of the images could have been taken in the nursery.
Mr George said last night: "Myself, my two children and family have been shocked by the information and events of the past three days.
"We remain strong as a family and will now await the case to go through the judicial system.
"We have two young children and my paramount concern is to lessen the impact these events have on them as much as possible."
Security was heightened at court yesterday ahead of reports of a planned protest outside the building.
Twenty uniformed police officers were stationed outside the building and barriers were placed around the vehicle entrance and exit at the rear of the courthouse. Inside the court, George appeared before a packed public gallery as she emerged from the steps below the dock.
She remained motionless as she was jeered and hissed at by the 30 to 40 men and women behind her. As details of the charges were read, cries from the public gallery escalated, with one man running from the court in tears.
As George was led away, a man leapt from the public gallery and spat at George. She spoke only to confirm her name and address, and entered no pleas. The court heard the charges ranged from January 2007 to this month.
Prosecutor Michael French applied for the case to be sent to the crown court. Chairman of the bench Hilary Anderson remanded George in custody.
Outside court, there were more heated scenes as people shouted and punched the marked police van carrying George away.
A home-made missile containing flour was also launched at the vehicle, which was forced to come to a stop by protesters.
Two men, aged 22 and 31, were arrested on suspicion of criminal damage, after attacks on the police van.
The 31-year-old was cautioned for damage and possession of cannabis and the 22-year-old was released without charge, police said.
George will next appear at Plymouth Crown Court on 21 September.
Assistant Detective Chief Superintendent Russ Middleton said: "It's safe to say we believe some of the images would have been taken within the nursery – but with others it's impossible to say."
He added: "We are focusing on our attempts to identify the children within the images. This is a very difficult task due to the nature of those images. At this time, we have been unable to identify any children."
The nursery, which operates from an adjoining school and church, remains closed.
The full article contains 554 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
